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The $150B Secondary Market and the Future of Venture Liquidity | Mike Jung

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Feb 26, 2026

Guest

Mike Jung

Mike Jung, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Founders Circle Capital, an investor in structured liquidity and growth-stage secondaries. He discusses the rise of structured secondaries and a $150B market, how companies now control private liquidity, designing tenders for founders and employees, and where AI-driven growth changes timing and risk for investing.

57:43

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INSIGHT

Secondaries Scaled Into A Major Liquidity Channel

The secondary market ballooned far beyond early expectations, becoming a major liquidity channel for venture capital.
PitchBook estimated the venture secondary market at about $150B in 2025, shifting how exits and LP cashflows operate.

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ANECDOTE

Ask Jeeves Options Went From $190 To $1

Mike Jung lived the dot-com crash at Ask Jeeves, exercising options that plunged from $190 to $1 per share.
That AMT shock and downside taught him the personal financial risk employees face when public/private prices collapse.

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ADVICE

Always Buy Secondaries With Company Consent

Work with management and get company consent before buying private shares; avoid opaque SPV layers.
Founder Circle only invests where they can diligence the company and be on the cap table with full management support.

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Founders Circle origin and liquidity thesis

03:16 • 2min

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Why companies control secondary markets

05:20 • 2min

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Private timelines lengthened and market size

07:10 • 2min

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Secondaries as primary liquidity route

08:51 • 3min

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Personal dot-com lessons on option risk

Private share opacity and diligence

17:10 • 3min

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How Founder Circle structures liquidity programs

19:45 • 3min

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What part of the cap table to buy matters

22:21 • 2min

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SPV fee stacking and buyer beware

Tender offers: minimum and maximum liquidity

29:19 • 3min

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Founder Circle's investment sweet spot

32:25 • 2min

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AI Cambrian explosion and investing timing

34:06 • 34sec

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Buying during downturns versus exuberance

34:40 • 2min

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Qualitative signals: founders, product, customer love

36:54 • 2min

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TAM, market creation, and big misses

38:48 • 4min

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Defining a supercycle and AI risks

42:58 • 4min

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Consumer AI and distribution challenges

46:44 • 1min

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Community as a value-add and moat

48:09 • 7min

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Building a firm versus being an investor

• Mentioned in 68 episodes

Barbarians at the gate

The Fall of RJR Nabisco

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Barbarians at the Gate is a detailed and engaging narrative about the takeover of RJR Nabisco in 1988. Written by investigative journalists Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, the book provides an unprecedented look at the financial operations and social history of the time. It centers around F. Ross Johnson's plan to buy out RJR Nabisco, which led to a bidding war involving prominent figures like Henry Kravis and Ted Forstmann. The book includes a new afterword that updates the story twenty years after the deal, tracing the subsequent success and failure of those involved and the impact of the story on the world.

CJ sits down with Mike Jung, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Founders Circle Capital. They unpack the rise of structured liquidity, how secondaries went mainstream, and what CFOs should know before running a tender. Mike shares lessons from the dot-com era, AI’s “super cycle,” and what separates durable growth companies from hype.

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LINKS:

Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN

Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikjung

https://www.founderscircle.com/

CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/

https://www.mostlymetrics.com

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TIMESTAMPS:

1:08 Founder Circle origin

3:15 The founder liquidity insight

5:16 Staying private longer problem